Excerpts from the book “America’s Expiration Date” Part 1

PERSIA’S AGE OF DECADENCE, ITS DECLINE, AND ITS FALL

When empires and great nations decline, there are multiple reasons that are usually interconnected. Such was the case with Persia. People who were not part of the upper class began organizing riots and other revolts against their rulers.

As this rebellion continued, Persian kings embraced “the dark side of the Force” and were perceived as working with evil spirits (Persian mythology viewed life as a struggle between good and evil). Kings became greedy (imagine that!) and started stealing from the nation’s wealth rather than sharing that wealth with the people.

The political structure joined the social structure in decline. Again, weak rulers created a political vacuum, leading to numerous provincial revolts, especially in Egypt, which hated Persian rule. Provisional satraps (regional officials) were becoming increasingly independent, some carrying on their own foreign policies (imagine each member of a US presidential administration doing that). They even waged war against one another. This constant infighting caused serious economic problems. Without a strong ruler who could train armies (and pay for them), and without an ability to gain wealth, the economy began to suffer.

Taxes were raised and quickly became oppressive, which encouraged more revolts and in turn led to more oppression, a vicious cycle. Persian kings started hoarding gold rather than recirculating it, leading to charges they were stealing from the people. There was also a decrease in crop production, which affected trade.

With limited resources, less attention was given to the arts and to buildings. Still today there remains a gap in Persian art because of this decline. It doesn’t help that the mullahs who now run Iran show little interest in anything artistic or creative.

Finally, there was a decline in science, for which Persians (and other cultures throughout the region) had once been known. This decline in science and invention led to a reduction in weapons production, undermining the safety of the empire—the final reason historians believe it collapsed.

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It took Gibbon six volumes to explain the history of Rome’s decline and fall, but one paragraph pretty much summarizes why it destroyed itself.

The story of its ruin is simple and obvious; and, instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majesty of the purple. The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which rendered them alike formidable to their sovereign and to the enemy; the vigor of the military government was relaxed, and finally dissolved, by the partial institutions of Constantine; and the Roman world was overwhelmed by a deluge of Barbarians.

Source: America's Expiration Date: The Fall of Empires and Superpowers… and the Future of the United States (2020) by Cal Thomas.